Planning the area, method and sequence of our response from the quality of muscle stiffness and how the muscle responds.
Even among hands-on approaches that similarly adjust the position of the body, how a response is planned depends on what cues are used to understand the condition, and on what is reviewed when there is little change.
Alongside responding to muscle lock, Zeroka Seitai checks whether other factors preventing that muscle from softening remain.
1. A shared foundation
Counterstrain includes the idea of placing the body in a position of comfort and responding while checking changes in tenderness and similar signs. In the basic procedure, the practitioner finds a position in which tenderness eases, holds it for 90 seconds, and then slowly returns the body to the starting position. Jones Institute Australasia: description of the technique
Zeroka Seitai shares with it the creation of a posture in which the muscle relaxes readily, and the checking of the body’s response. Zeroka Seitai’s course materials explain how its theory and hands-on techniques were developed from an application of Counterstrain that the materials call myonpathy.
Scroll sideways to read the full table.
| What we share | What Zeroka Seitai places importance on |
|---|---|
| Adjusting the position of the body | Creating a state in which the target muscle relaxes readily |
| Checking the response by touch | Understanding not only the amount of stiffness but also its quality and the way it changes |
| Focusing on how nerves and muscles work | Using the interpretation of “muscle lock” in our response |
However, sharing a way of thinking is not the same as having the same explanatory mechanism or the same specific techniques.
2. Holding time is not the only point of comparison
Counterstrain itself also has advanced methods. The official advanced course introduces a method that shortens the holding time from 90 seconds to 3–10 seconds. Fascial Counterstrain also offers a course on assessment and strategy for deciding where to start in complex cases. Jones Institute Europe: SCS IV, Jones Institute Australasia: FCS Diagnostics
These are descriptions given by the official courses. We do not treat the shortened times or the effects as results confirmed by independent comparative trials. We make the comparison on the understanding that existing methods also include individualisation and refinements of procedure.
What Zeroka Seitai has built up through practice is a way of testing, and responding to, questions such as these.
Even with the same response, some muscles change quickly and others hardly change. Where does that difference lie? What needs to be addressed first for change to happen?
We understand stiffness in terms of several factors — muscle lock, insufficient ATP, and what we describe as a build-up of waste products — and plan our response using the feel under our hands and the responses during hands-on work as cues.
This is Zeroka Seitai’s interpretation. It does not mean that we directly measure ATP levels, blood flow or waste products by palpation.
3. What should be compared to see differences in approach?
As well as holding time, we compare what information is used to understand the condition, and what is changed when the expected change does not appear.
Scroll sideways to read the full table.
| Point of comparison | What can be confirmed in the official materials for existing methods | What Zeroka Seitai describes |
|---|---|---|
| Adjusting and checking position | In the basic procedure, a position of comfort is found and held, using tenderness as the indicator | We create a posture in which the muscle relaxes readily, and check the quality of stiffness, the response, and the actual movement |
| Holding time | In addition to the basic 90 seconds, the advanced course introduces a method of shortening it | Rather than relying on a uniform time alone, we check why the muscle is slow to soften and how it responds |
| Area, method and sequence | Advanced courses also cover assessment and strategies for responding | We have built up experience of re-selecting the area, method and sequence from the quality of stiffness and the response after our work |
| Explanatory mechanism | There are explanatory models of, among other things, how nerves and muscles work | In addition to muscle lock, we consider factors related to supply and energy, and to circulation and clearance |
The column on existing methods summarises only what is in the official materials above. It is not a comparison covering all practice of those methods, and it does not mean that individualisation or reassessment is unique to Zeroka Seitai.
Check the quality of stiffness, the response and movement
Specific examples of stiffness and how we plan our response are explained in A-2, and the multiple factors in R-4.
4. A specific example of our know-how
As described in A-2, when a target muscle is slow to change, we may first work on another area that we interpret as involved in a supply-side problem. We then return to the target muscle and check how it softens and how movement changes.
We do not add massage at the same time in this situation because we want to check whether change happens without continued kneading from outside. We keep the observation that feel and movement changed after working on another area separate from the interpretation that this was due to improved blood supply or improved ATP availability.
5. What we want to offer athletes and their teams
The know-how we have developed lies in distinguishing the quality of stiffness, interpreting the factors preventing change, and re-selecting the area, method and sequence of the response.
We then check changes in the muscle during hands-on work by linking them to changes in the movement the athlete is seeking. When the muscle does not fully change, or stiffness returns later, we use that response in the next review.
While recognising what we share with existing methods, we use this accumulation of specific judgements and responses in supporting athletes and in practitioner training for care practitioners.
This section explains what Zeroka Seitai shares with existing methods and the features of its practice. Superiority, or differences in effect, between methods cannot be established from the materials and experience presented here alone.